Kam Jones scored 20 points and dished out 10 assists to lead No.
Jones added six rebounds for Marquette (8-0), its best start since winning 10 straight to start the 2011-12 campaign, which ended with a Sweet 16 appearance. Ben Gold added 12 points, and Stevie Mitchell he had 10 rebounds and three steals. David Joplin, Caedin Hamilton and Royce Parham scored nine points for the Golden Eagles.
The Catamounts (2-4) were led by Bernard Pelote with 13 points and eight boards. Jamar Livingston scored 10 points and CJ Hyland added five points with five rebounds and six assists.
Marquette was in control for most of the game, thanks in large part to 51.4 percent shooting and 21 steals.
The Golden Eagles built a 16-point lead in the first half before Western Carolina pulled within 37-28 with 3:55 left. Marquette responded with a 12-2 run to take a 49-30 halftime advantage, its best of the game to that point.
The game quickly got out of hand, with the Golden Eagles scoring 11 straight points to push the lead to 81-45 with 7:15 left.
Marquette finished with 26 points off Catamount turnovers and hit 14 of 40 shots (35.0 percent) from 3-point range.
The win didn’t go well for the Golden Eagles, who lost guard Zaide Lowery to a left knee injury. Lowery helped Lowery off the field and into the locker room with 1:36 left in the game.
Saturday’s game was Marquette’s last, with a challenging three-game stretch against No. 5 Iowa State, No. 15 Wisconsin and Dayton before Big East Conference play begins Dec. 18.
–Field Level Media
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